The JessyJen

One of the really unique things they have at Shanghai Disney is the Alice in Wonderland maze. The big attraction is the big queen of hearts head in her part of the garden. It's a really simple and fun attraction to do in the park. It is located behind the castle in their Fantasy Land. Obviously, the big talk of Shanghai Disney is their Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Let me tell you I could just ride it all day long. It is honestly mind blowing and I have never experienced a ride like it before. I was lucky enough to ride it twice in the same day as well as the Tron Lightcycle Coaster. However I do prefer the pirates ride over the tron. ride.  The castle is so huge and beautiful and I had to put a picture of me in front of it. Now below is the video of my day there minus the Royal Banquet Hall which I will do a separate post on. I just would like to warn some travelers about some of the things I noticed there. Shanghai Disney people do not really under stand line...

Our second day in Shanghai we had another tour booked to see an ancient water village and go on a boat down the river to see the water village. I won't lie it was a little scary on the boat. They weren't the best drivers for the tour. We almost crashed a few times but the experience was fun and make for a good story and video. Yes I caught our almost boat accident on video, well one of them. But it was very pretty and also pretty dirty, I mean really dirty. But we did have tons of fun on the tour. Behind me is I believe a 500 year old bridge. We got to get off and walk across and the steps were almost nonexistent. Walking through the narrow side streets with the street vendors and the food, fabrics, and merchandise really made me feel like I was in a movie. You they always show those kind of dirty busy side streets with all the street vendors. That's exactly what we were walking down and I wont lie it wasn't my favorite experience but I am happy to say that ...

Great news to Kissimmee, Orlando, and Lake Buena Vista area! We finally have a tea room close by that isn't too expensive. No more going to The Grand Floridian for high tea or driving out to Winter Haven for a nice cup of tea and lunch. Head over to Celebration and try the new Tea Room!  I got a goji berry oolong tea which is high in antioxidants and low in caffeine. My entree came with a side or cup of soup (I love soup so much). I clearly got the Tomato Basil soup which is amazing. I want to say now that every thing here is made fresh in house. My dad got the Salmon Wellington with roast potatoes . I don't really like salmon but I will take his word for it. He said it was really good but it was a bit small for an entree.  My entree was the Cottage Pie and you can tell that it was made in house and very fresh. It is straight out of the oven and so, so hot. Please do not eat it right away because you'll burn your mouth. But this is really deliciou...

These are some of my tips on eating around the world at EPCOT's International Food and Wine Festival. Plan ahead and make sure you look up the menu on www.mydisneyexperience.com and start planning where you want to go and what you want to order! So you can get a feel for how the festival is set this a vlog on a day I spent at the festival trying all the yummy food and drinks! Keep in mind this was last years festival so some of the items I tried might not be on this years menus. But they did add more stands this year as well as more specialty drink options. Don't forget the special add-ons for the day where you can do food seminars. They recommend booking the seminars in advance because they do sell out of some of them. This years International Food and Wine Festival will be starting August 31st! Make sure you subscribe to get all the information for your next Orlando Vacation!!

Here's a really flattering picture of me in front of the LEGOLAND Florida sign (Sarcasm people). But the sign is super cute and I couldn't resist. I recently got to tour the two resorts at LEGOLAND Florida located in Winter Haven just outside of Orlando. The video below shows the tour of the two resorts and how amazingly themed they are.   Their newest resort is Beach Retreat which is their value hotel. As you see in the video they have really cute beach homes as hotel rooms and they have cute Lego themed rooms. The pools have tubes where you can build foam Lego blocks onto them and make your own creations. There is a fire pit by the pool to make delicious and gooey s'mores and bar not to far from their for the parents to have a fun treat for them at night as well. You do get early park admission with this hotel and a free shuttle to take you back and forth to the park. I really want to stay here soon with some friends and have a really fun time relaxing and...

Starting September get ready for Halloween with me and enjoy the best bits of Autumn. This will include Halloween events in Orlando, Halloween Decorating, Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT, and many more fall and Halloween things. I know last year there was Spooktober and it still might come back but this year I wanted to get a head start on Halloween and Fall festivities! Make sure you follow my blog here as well as my youtube channel and social media pages which are listed in my special poster above for this event. Who is ready for Falling into Halloween with me? www.youtube.com/thejessyjen

I went to Shanghai a few months ago and I wanted to create some posts about the experience. The first day we were day we had a guided tour into Shanghai. Our first spot (the photo above) was the Shanghai Museum. This was a very busy museum and inside was so beautiful and they had so many different rooms full of history. It was really amazing and our tour guide was full of lots of information. I did this tour because I really didn't know anything about Shanghai besides the new Disney Park was there. I really love learning about the difference in culture and understanding their history of their city. The next stop he took us to was a Buddhist temple. Oh my goodness it was beautiful and amazing to see all the people coming into pray to the different gods. I also think it was amazing to see different tour groups from all over the world coming into here and being peaceful and respectful of the religion. I really got a full understand of Buddhism and I have to say it is an am...

  If you know me you would also know that I love the International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. I go every year multiple times. I don't even know how many times I have been (or how much money I haven't spent) there. I do have a tips video over at www.youtube.com/thejessyjen from last year and soon there will be a lot more videos on this years festival. It starts August 31st- November 13th, which is a long time for this festival. The longest it has ever been and the most stands it has ever had! I am going to just mention some of the food and drinks I am excited about trying this year!   Sweet Avocado Crema with Strawberries, Yellow Cake and Tortilla Streusel at the Active Eats stand. It sounds very interesting to me and I am not sure if it's dessert or an appetizer. Cauliflower Risotto with Pulled Chicken, Artichokes, Spinach and Parmesan Cheese and Aged Balsamic at The Almond Orchard Hosted by Blue Diamond Almond Breeze ® . Beer-braised Beef served wi...

On August 19th I went to my first PhotoPass Day at Walt Disney World Resort. I am going to talk a little but about the rare characters you could meet and my experience I had that day. Now if you are really, and I mean really, into meeting characters and that is a huge deal for you then this is your day. But the lines were ridiculous. I mean people were lining up for 3+ hours to meet some of the characters. Now the event was in all four theme parks with characters that you usually will never see in the parks. I was really excited for the day but not realizing how busy it was actually going to be. Now to be fair I am that annual passholder who won't wait longer than 30 minutes for any attraction. But let's get into the photos I did get to do on the day. At Hollywood studios they had the Villains in a special area (where they had club villain awhile ago). I got to the park about 10 minutes after park open and the lines were already really long for the villains. The Evi...

My favorite time of year is fall/Halloween and one of the main reasons is all the events that happen here at the theme parks. If you head to my youtube channel www.youtube.com/thejessyjen I did Spooktober with videos on some of these events. But when do they start and when do they finish? Let me tell you! I will also let you know which events are for the family and for the 13+ ages. Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party: Located at Disney's Magic Kingdom in the evenings. This is a family friendly event for all ages. You can wear costumes, trick or treat, ride the rides, special themed fireworks, parade, and treats. This is a separate ticket event and runs from August 25th to November 1st on select nights. Spooktacular: Located at SeaWorld Orlando during weekends through September 23rd to October 29th. This event is great event is family friendly for all ages. Kids can wear costumes and go trick or treating around the park while meeting special characters. This is t...

I am going to the first night of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party this year! August 25th! I know that is so early this year but I made a tips video from last year and hopefully these tips will set you up for success for this years party! Enjoy!       Here's the Boo To You Parade from last year too!       Make sure you subscribe to get all the information for your next Orlando Vacation!!

I recently was lucky enough to go to SeaWorld and experience the Behind The Scenes tour for my job  and I really loved it. It's an add-on to your park admission but it's around $30 which isn't too bad for what you get with it. You are guaranteed an animal encounter and you get a tour if their rescue area in the back which isn't open to the public. I got to see what they use to transport killer whales and where they have the quarantine for the sick and injured animals that just came in. We got to find out a ton of information about the manatees they have saved and the stories are so sad to hear. The work SeaWorld does is amazing and they are always on call to go help rescue animals. We then went to the backstage area of the Shark area and we got to pet a little shark. I can not remember what time of shark it was but it was really soft. My favorite part of the tour was getting to go into a penguin exhibit and getting to pet the penguin. They are so calm a...

The best thing about going to Disney is proving you went to Disney! I recently just went to Magic Kingdom with my bestie Amber and here are some of our photos. SnapChat: Make sure you take selfies and videos for your story for real time updates to make all your friends jealous. The best part about snapchat is they have some filters depending on the land or ride you are in at Magic Kingdom. Including this gem we found that says It's Lit with the Disney Resort underneath at Philarmagic. Also taking selfies with the normal filters is just as good like the we took on the monorail below. You can use the labels for Walt Disney World Resort. Selflie: If you don't take a selfie with the castle behind you did you even go to Magic Kingdom?? This one is on the bridge to Tomorrowland and its a great shot of the castle. But you pretty much can get great shots of the castle from almost every land in the park. PhotoPass: My photo pass comes with my annual p...

So many guest and locals loved electric ocean so much it has been extended! It is offcially ending for every night tomorrow (August 5th). But you can see Saturday nights through the month of August. Make sure you try all the specialty food and drinks for Electric Ocean. They also opened a new craft beer bar and annual pass holders get a free beer through the month of August. The Great Movie Ride and Ellen's Energy Adventure both close permanently on August 13th. The reason is for new attractions to be built and welcomed into the parks. If you have the time look up or watch the D23 theme park announcement to see all the changed coming to Walt Disney World Resort. There are still fast passes available for both attractions at this time. The Slinky Dog coaster has put its last piece of track on the coaster and now they are just waiting for the car to come in to put onto the new Toy Story Land attraction. Toy Story Land will be opening Summer of 2018. Universal'...

Some people come to Orlando more than once on vacation. You might not want to do Disney and Universal again for the fifth time. You might be here on vacation and would like to see a little more than just those major attractions. You might of decided to come to Orlando and realized how expensive the major theme parks are and you have a budget you don't want to go over. Well here is a list of some smaller attractions to do that are just as fun as Disney and Universal. Fun Spot- We like to say that fun spot is all the fun of a theme park but not the theme park prices. There is a fun spot in Orlando and Kissimmee so if you are staying near Disney or Universal there is a Fun Spot close by to you. Tickets start at about $43 per person for ages 3 and up. Gatorland- It's an older attraction located more towards the Kissimmee area. Still a ton of fun to go and experience and it is educational as well. You could spend a whole day there with the VIP Trainer for a Day ticket (sta...

  The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter is normally what brings everyone to Universal Studios Orlando. But did you realize it is divided into both parks? Some tourist know this but a lot of them do not and I would like to do a little information on the Hogsmeade side in Islands of Adventure.   WWOHP's original side is Hogsmeade, which means the first side that opened up a few years ago. This side is the one with Hogwarts castle and has more rides on this side as well. Let's go over the top things to do and the best ways to them.   Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is the big attraction which is located inside the castle. The best time to ride it is either first thing in the morning or towards park closing hours. If you were not interested in riding the attraction but wanted to see everything inside the castle you can ask a Hogwarts student for a castle tour. The castle tour gives you an alternative line so you can experience all the fun of the qu...

    I just saw the new Spider-Man Homecoming movie and I want to more reflect than review the movie because I will start out by saying I LOVED IT! I think it's the best Spider-Man thus far. It captured the humor and teenage side of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. There is going to be SPOILERS in this reflection/review so if you haven't seen the movie please DO NOT READ.   The opening is score is great since it is the original Spider-Man theme song but with an Orchestra. The opening video diary of Peter Parker going to the airport battle in Berlin during the Civil War movie was such an amazing way to start the excitement he was for being a super hero. What else is amazing is they do not start with his origin story and it jumps straight into the present day story. Since by now everyone knows what has happened to him. They do add a moment in the movie where he is telling his best friend he got bit by a spider and that is how he got his powers. In case there is someone ou...

It may be Independence Day and the start of summer but I am ready for fall and winter to get here already. Now everyone has probably heard of the saying Christmas in July and here are some movies I would watch for a movie marathon in July to cool down from that summer heat. Netflix Picks: 1. How The Grinch Stole Christmas! It's a christmas classic (to me at least) and is always funny no matter what time of the year you watch it. This is still on Netflix at the time and this would be how I start my Christmas in July movie marathon. This is one of my favorite Christmas movies. My top movie is Elf (DUH). 2. Christmas with the Kranks This is another funny movie to watch and it will always be funny. I would recommend starting with comedies first during the day and lead into the other options later. But this is just my opinion on how I would start the movie day. 3. White Christmas This is the perfect transition movie in my opinion for the Netflix movie part...

Tokyo Disney Resort is all about ears or some sort of disney themed hat, a disney colorful shirt, and make the whole outfit some how come together. So my last day at Tokyo Disney I decided to give it a try. So this was outfit #1 on my last day at Tokyo Disney Resort. They were still celebrating Easter while I was there and I fell in love with this Easter shirt with all it's bright colors and find this hat that matches. If you watch my youtube channel you probably have seen I wear this hat a lot to Disney here in Orlando. I think they have this hat all year round but the colors change with the season. They are really big on printed t-shirts that are busy all over. Which I love because the clothes there were more into fashion statements than tourist t-shirts. On  the other hand, it was a little hard to find souvenirs that say Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea. There's lots of fun places for photos and even this construction wall was pretty to take a photo in ...

Check out the whole Playlist here from my trip to Asia:   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqlO9NdZam2hm3jhklDCD2ZUtStBCnKsC

    I deal with a lot of guest at work who don't fully research things they need to know before coming on vacation here in Orlando. I would love to explain so key points for you if you are planning a vacation here so you can make to most out of your trip.     It rains almost every day in Orlando during the summer . We are the lightening capitol of the world here in Orlando. We also don't get the storms all day but they will be either afternoon or evening storms. All attraction areas are not close to each other . Disney and Universal are about 25 minutes apart in a car or taxi. SeaWorld is about 15-20 from the other attractions and Busch Gardens is in Tampa which is about an hour drive. Kennedy Space Center is also about an hour drive as well. LEGOLAND is about 45 minutes away from Disney Resort Area. Universal and Disney are completely separate companies and parks. You cannot buy package tickets with both parks they sell their tickets separ...

Magic Kingdom Summer Vacation Tips!   It's your favorite Orlando local expert JessyJen here to give you some tips to make sure your day at Magic Kingdom as magical as it can be. This is what I do and would advise anyone to do to make the most out of your day. Purchase your tickets in advance or at your hotel at least a day or two before you plan to visit the park.. Download the My Disney Experience app and set up your fast passes . Each ticket has 3 fast passes for the day so choose the bigger rides such as Space Mountain or the Mine Train. Get familiar with the app and research all the dinning options available in the park to see what works with your budget. RESERVATIONS! Make a dinning reservation in advance before you come to eat at any of the full service restaurants in the park. You do not need a ticket to make a reservation but you do need to use a credit card to hold your reservation. Get to the park early . Magic Kingdom ac...